City/County Digest

City/County Digest

October 17, 2002|By From staff reports

In Baltimore County

Baltimore man gets 40-year term in county robberies

TOWSON -- A Baltimore man who prosecutors said committed at least 11 robberies in the county during the summer pleaded guilty in Baltimore County Circuit Court yesterday to four counts of robbery with a deadly weapon.

Ronald Nelson Wolfe Jr., 34, of the 4000 block of Oakford Ave. was sentenced to 40 years in prison. He still faces charges in Baltimore Circuit Court.

Prosecutors said Wolfe used a handgun to rob workers at a beauty salon on Liberty Road, clerks at a Royal Farms in the 7000 block of Falls Road, clerks at a 7-Eleven in the 6700 block of Windsor Mill Road and employees at a BB&T bank at 44 E. Sudbrook Road.

Man accused of dragging officer held on $100,000 bail

MILFORD MILL -- A man accused of dragging a police officer who was trying to get him out of his car was being held yesterday at the Baltimore County Detention Center on $100,000 bail, authorities said.

Robert Kunkel, 31, of the 3900 block of Franklinville Road in New Windsor was charged with first-degree assault after a struggle with a county police officer trying to arrest him Monday morning, authorities said. Kunkel is accused of driving through a roadblock set up on Liberty Road at a nonworking traffic signal, police said. The officer was dragged a short distance before he was able to break free, according to police.

Kunkel's PT Cruiser was spotted by state police in Carroll County that morning. He was arrested when the vehicle went out of control on Interstate 795, police said.

Westminster resident identified as crash victim

REISTERSTOWN -- Investigators found no evidence that alcohol or speeding were factors in a fatal accident on Worthington Road, Baltimore County police said yesterday.

It remained unclear why Daniel Nixon, 22, of the 2500 block of Littlestown Pike in Westminster lost control of his 1985 Toyota Corolla, which ran head-on into a van Tuesday morning, said Officer Shawn Vinson, a police spokesman.

The driver of the van and two passengers were injured in the accident near Tufton Road, police said.

Paws on Parade to raise money for Humane Society

REISTERSTOWN -- The Humane Society of Baltimore County will hold its annual Paws on Parade walk Sunday to raise money to care for animals in need.

Walkers, who raise funds through donations or pledges, can choose from 1.6- and 1-mile routes through the society's 365-acre property at 1601 Nicodemus Road. The walk will take place rain or shine.

Walk brochures are available at the Humane Society and at Baltimore County public library branches. Information: 410-833- 2387.

In Baltimore City

Board OKs $21.3 million for black history museum

The state Board of Public Works approved a $21.3 million contract yesterday for construction of a black history museum near Baltimore's waterfront.

Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. will oversee construction of the Reginald F. Lewis Museum, Maryland Museum of African-American History and Culture, named after the late Baltimore financier and philanthropist.

The granite-facade museum will feature 15,000 square feet of exhibit space, a 200-seat theater and an oral history recording studio. Construction is expected to begin next month, with the museum opening in 2004 at Pratt and President streets.

Nobel laureate in medicine receives award for genetics

H. Robert Horvitz, a 2002 Nobel laureate in medicine, was awarded a gold medal and $150,000 in a ceremony yesterday at the Baltimore Convention Center, part of the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics.

The award, presented by the Peter Gruber Foundation, recognized Horvitz's pioneering efforts to understand the genetics of cell death, a process at the heart of biological and medical research, from embryo development to diseases such as Parkinson's.

Horvitz teaches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The U.S. Virgin Islands-based Peter Gruber Foundation awards prizes each year to recognize achievements in genetics, cosmology and justice.